I plan on cooling off hydroponic water with nutrients will the aluminum corrode or leak into the water?poisen plants?
19372
Hi Bryan, i never got the item, it got lost in the mail b/c the address was not written coreclty. contacted the company to get reimbursed. As for the contamination it can occur, i have one in a saltwater aquarium but before using it to cool down water, i cover the interior with some epoxy just in case. Its been working good and no sign of contamination nor corrotion is shown after 8 months. Hope this helps. David
19373
I use mine for the same thing. The cool thing about aluminum is that once it starts to oxidize, it forms a water tight seal over its surface and prevents anymore oxidation. So to answer your question, it will not harm your plants. I've been using mine for about 6 months now and no problems.
19374
I use mine to run water from a stainless steel container through a peltier "cooler" and back to the container. The container is in the nutrient tank, so there is no chance of contamination. I doubt you get any contamination anyway, but I find this a bit more efficient, as the water keeps going through the cooler and gets much colder than just having the nutrient running through it. The stainless steel container absorbs the heat of the nutrient, the water goes through the cooler. It works fairly well.
1809719
It's a plastic housing around a fluorescent tube. I welded threads on the top so mine flows backwards. I would imagine no damage would be done as long as the unit isn't under pressure. I run mine slowly to insure a complete sterilization. I use the same system on my 30 gallon aquaponic herb garden as I do my 2 300 gallon green house setups.
1392831
The water is sprayed up and around the root zone from the reservoir. It works great, I couldn't get the roots to grow at first because my water temp was above 80 degrees due to the system being under a 400watt mh light. I moved it away from the light and the water temp came down to about 70degrees and roots started to grow rapidly. Remember to clean the reservoir after every use. I'm still using this cloner machine.
929241
We have had ours for well over a year, in constant use, and the bottom, directly above the heat element, has discolored to nearly black. In addition there are brown-ish rust colored areas on the outside anywhere water drops tend to accumulate. Our water is known to have a measurable iron content, so it is hard to say if the pot is corroding or if the water is depositing iron salts onto the metal. Either way it is not harmful in any way. Iron oxide is not toxic, and any corrosion would confined to the very surface where it presents no hazard of "rusting though".
2023463
My understanding is that there are different grades of stainless steel; they may not be food-quality. If you are consuming the food yourself, I suppose you could try it, but I would recommend finding sieves that are designed for food use. Edit: seeds may be fine, as long as they are not being consumed directly, and as long as the sieves aren't rusted at all. I am not particularly familiar with the effect of metals on plants but I would imagine as long as there is no long-term contact, it wouldn't be a problem.
1301145
I live in Southern Calif. and our water here is HARD with dissolved salts and minerals. I bought one to use with my hydroponics water source and it DID NOT remove or change the PPM from that tested before I installed it on the hose.
1473916
For hydroponics I would go with the flora series. If you don't keep the ingredients of the organic line cold and aerated it will spoil.
2212704
No, I use it all summer and I have water lilies, lotus and other plants. I also have 15 Koi, and it doesn't harm them either. Great bacteria for ponds.
430411
I have not checked nor am I sure how you would. But I have seen no signs of any ill effects. Stainless steel is one of the best things to use for a water environment. I hope this helps.
2077913
My pot IS rusted. I'm very disappointed because I wanted to get away from aluminum and the steel ended up rusting on the inside. It makes me believe it is not stainless steel.
465226
It is readily water soluble. I don't know about hydroponics. You would likely need to use a weaker dilution than is specified for normal use.
413693
The pole is aluminum so it can go in water. Not sure if that is what you are asking.
2074924
I've been using my dripper all summer, and have had no problems with rust. The birds are quite enthusiastic about the dripping water. If the bird bath is not routinely cleaned out with a brush, you can get a red-brown algal growth, with may look like rust.
1708667
Theoreticaly yes. As long as its pure rainwater and hasn't been contaminated it should be fine. That would depend on method of collection though. When in doubt distilled water is a cheap and safe solution. Tap water is a big no as is anything with high mineral content. I would avoid downspout collected water.
326468
It is recommended (and I do!) use distilled water...very inexpensive and I've seen no rust at all.
1091283
I wouldnt do that. The ph will change within 2 days. Ive had plants die because i left them unattended for days. This is typical for all hydro setups
32641
Yes, there is a filter on the inlet and the aluminum compressor shouldn't rust if you have hard water.